


Valentine's Day is for Losers

by tfw_ftw



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-01-16 09:37:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1342675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tfw_ftw/pseuds/tfw_ftw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's that time of year again, when the whole school dissolves into bubblegum pink hearts and giggling lovebirds. Michael's single and gives absolutely no fucks about the spectacle.</p><p>Until he gets his first gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Look How Many Fucks I Give

**Author's Note:**

  * For [achievementboyfriends](https://archiveofourown.org/users/achievementboyfriends/gifts).



> Written for the lovely mod over at the RageHappy Valentine's Day Exchange, who not only didn't receive a gift because their gifter dropped out but who's been so very patient with me the past few months. I hope you like it! XD 
> 
> Based on this prompt:  
>  _High School AU. There’s a program at school where you can send someone a gift/flower/candy/all of the above for every day of February leading up to Valentines Day. Person A starts receiving these things without a clue as to who is sending it. I’d appreciate one of the gifts to be something really big and obnoxious, like an oversized stuffed plushie or something that they have to carry around all day! Eventually Person B reveals themselves, and cute romance commences :)_

** Monday **

_“Last item of the day. As you all know, today’s the first day of February and our ‘Week of Love’ is quickly approaching. This is a reminder that if you’d like to surprise that special someone next week, all requests need to be submitted by Friday the 7th. Spread love and cheer during these gloomy winter days. That’s all for the announcements. Have a great day and learn something!”_

The intercom cuts off with a brief noise of static. Michael lifts his head from its resting place on his arms. “Great,” he thought, “another pink-explosion, lovey-dovey, crap fest to endure.” There’s a finger poked hard in his back, Michael turns around with a glare to see the smiling face of his best friend since second grade, Ray.

“If you’re my valentine, does that mean I can get laid?”

Michael laughs, “Fuck you, man.”

“That’s what I’m asking,” Ray snickers. 

“No, dumbass. And isn’t Ryan your valentine already?”

He doesn’t get a chance to see Ray’s middle finger and accompanying blush, their first period and Art II teacher, Mrs. Ramsey’s stern voice cuts them off, “Michael and Ray, can we start?”

Michael sits forward, a little blush of embarrassment from being called out in front of the class. “Sorry.”

Ray mumbles his apology from behind. 

Later, after the class disperses to work on their clay sculptures, Ray slides a note into the back of Michael’s shirt. 

The note returns to Ray with ‘yes’ circled a dozen times and crudely drawn stick-figures of Michael bending Ray over. “I’ll be gentle,” written beneath the art.

Walking out after class ends, Ray bumps into Michael’s shoulder. “Asshole.”

“Love you too,” Michael says, smacking Ray’s arm playfully.

They walk down the hall until they have to go separate ways. Ray, a tenth grader, has different core classes than Michael’s senior ones. “See you at lunch?” Asks Ray.

“Yeah, just make sure to save me a seat. I **do not** want to be stuck next to the girls.” 

“Sure thing.” Ray nods, heading towards his next period, Geometry, if Michael remembers his friend’s schedule correctly. 

When lunch rolls around, Michael immediately seeks out his friends in the cafeteria. He spots Lindsay’s bright red hair and, as he approaches, he sees Gavin waving him over. 

“Mi-cool!” He says excitedly, arms still wiggling in the air, “Ray told me to hold your spot. He’s in line with Miles and Patrick.” 

“Thanks, Gav.” Michael sits, unwrapping the ham and cheese sandwich he prepared this morning. 

“Michael, aren’t you excited about next week?” Lindsay asks, her wide smile bordering on creepy.

Michael looks up with a mouth full of meat, bread, and cheese, reminded why he didn’t want to sit next to Lindsay and her BFF Barbara. “Nope.” 

“Don’t have your eye,” she does an outrageous eyebrow raise that makes everyone giggle, “on someone?”

“Nope.”

Barbara perks up. “You should do what Linds and I are do doing. Since we don’t have boyf--anyone else, we’re going to be each other’s valentine.” 

Lindsay smiles brightly when she looks back at Barbara. 

“I’m not about to resort to best friend desperation.” He quickly adds, “No offense to you guys.”

Ray, who sat down a minute ago, confirms, “Yeah, he already turned me down.”

“That’s cause you only want me for my body,” Michael mockingly pouts.

Ray nods. “It’s true,” to the laughs of the group. 

“So you’re not going to the dance either?” Gavin asks.

“For what? I’m not going to pick someone up at a _Valentine’s Day_ dance.”

Gavin prompts again, “Well what if someone asks you?”

Before Michael can answer, Ray cuts in, “Will you put out if I take you to the dance?”

“No,” Michael deadpans, cracking a smile as he shoves Ray. 

“Well, Michael,” Barbara starts, “you never know if someone already has their eye on you.”

“Fuck that noise,” he answers, biting another mouthful of sandwich.

The rest of the week goes by uneventfully. Lindsay and Barbara wrangling their other friends, Jordan and Arryn into the Valentine’s fever. Michael, along with Ray, ignores their twittering and laughs about being single during the holiday.

** Saturday **

Saturday thankfully brings in a reasonably warm morning for February, but the afternoon calls for freezing temperatures and possible snow. Michael texts Ray when he wakes, “snowed in with Halo?” About an hour later, after breakfast and a quick multiplayer deathmatch in GTA V, Ray responds. “My place. I’ll get pizza.” 

“MOM!” Michael yells into the silence of the house, “I’m going to Ray’s!” He answers when he mother’s ‘what?” is yelled back at him. 

A pair of jeans and clean (-er than the one he’d slept in) shirt later, Michael rushes out the garage, riding his bike to save gas on the short distance to Ray’s place. 

“I want Hawaiian,” He says once Ray opens the door. 

Ray groans in disgust. 

“If you want in my pants, I want pineapples.” Michael jokes. He heads towards the basement, greeting Ray’s mother along the way with a curt hug. 

“Almost palmed your mom’s ass, Ray.”

“You know if I kick you down the stairs,” Ray’s voice deepens, “it would look like an accident from here.”

“You psycho,” Michael gasps dramatically, clutching his imaginary pearls with a smirk on his face.

“You attempted motherfucker.” They both laugh. 

Michael goes about setting up Ray’s XBox, having done it a million times before, then takes one side of the couch and stretches out. 

“What do you want to drink?”

“Beer,” Michael answers.

Ray sits down beside Michael, handing him a bottle of water. “Um, no. Can I offer you an ass-whooping instead?”

Michael pushes Ray’s shoulder with a smirk. “We’ll see about that, asshole.”

50 kills later, “Ray wins!” and a subsequent loud groan joins the game-over screen. Michael smacks the now empty water bottle across the room in anger. 

“How about we blow shit up in GTA for a while?” Ray proposes, knowing any more losses will only serve to further infuriate his best friend. 

“Great idea. You’re over level 100, right?”

“Yeah,” he answers, eyebrows drawn up in confusion, “why?”

“Good, I won’t feel guilty for the amount of RPGs I’m about to unload in your ass.”

Ray grins. “I knew you loved me.”

“Of course I do. Now put in the game, I’m getting trigger happy.”

By mid afternoon, they’re stuffed full of pizza and playing their fifth game of last man standing. Lindsay, Gavin, and Ryan, Ray’s neighbor and crush, joining their Xbox Live party throughout the day. 

“Thanks for that last kill, Ryan,” Ray says into his headset. Michael watches the smile playing on his lips when Ryan responds, "It's the least I can do for you."

Michael sticks a finger in his mouth making gagging noises in Ray's direction, who gives him the middle finger in return. 

“Alright, guys,” Michael calls into his own headset, “Ray needs to go jerk off now…”

“Fucker!”

“...we’ll be back on later,” he finishes, ignoring Ray’s outburst and scrolling through the menus to leave the party, Ray begrudgingly following behind him. 

When he know his headset has no one on the other end, Ray glares at Michael. “You know you’re an asshole, right?” 

“You know you need to stop being a pussy and do something, right?”

Ray glares harder.

“He obviously likes you too, if he’s willing to play video games with your ass on his Saturday.”

“He’s nine years older than me!”

“The age of consent is 16,” Michael says with a sly grin. “Anyway, haven’t you been sporting a boner for him for like a decade?”

Ray scowls. “I hate you.”

“Hey, now, how many movies have we seen where the dude ends up with his babysitter?”

“I hate you.”

“It could happen to you, too.” Michael cups his face with his hands, looking up longingly. “You just have to believe in true love.”

“Why am I even friends with you?”

“Because I cheerlead you into getting laid.”

Ray exhales deeply, “I hate you.” He grabs a slice of pizza and takes two huge bites. 

“You love me. Seriously, though. You should ask him out for Valentine’s Day or something.”

“Weren’t you just condemning that, like, yesterday?”

“It’s a bunch of people making a big deal about one day. If you love someone, you don’t need a special holiday to say it.”

“So what you’re saying is, it’s a holiday invented by Hallmark?”

“Pretty much.”

“But I should still use it to my advantage?”

“Exactly.”


	2. Welp, Guess I'm Fucked...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentine's Week begins! Much to Michael's dismay.

** Monday **

Monday comes around and Michael’s assumption was right. The whole school is covered in red, pink and white hearts, streamers and every spelling variation of ‘I love you.’ Rolling his eyes, Michael heads to his locker to grab the novel of study in his English class. 

It’s not until he sits down in art class that he sees any of his friends. Ray pulls up a desk beside him. He inhales deeply. “You smell that?”

Michael raises his eyebrow in question. 

“Love is in the air.”

Michael groans, “I thought you were gonna say…” The intercom kicks into life, interrupting any further discussion. 

Ten minutes later, the announcements conclude, reminding the school that Valentine deliveries will be made during the first period. 

Mrs. Ramsey starts a lesson on portraits and is stopped when two students, one that Michael recognizes as Kerry, knock on the door. Kerry, a friend of Ray’s from his neighborhood, and his helper are dressed as cherubs. Wings, halos, bare-chests, diapered-bottoms and all. The class tries to contain their giggles, the snorts and squeaks heard show the difficulty in that task.

Kerry hands Mrs. Ramsey a heart-shaped candy and turns to his helper, who fumbles with the items in his grasp. “Jennifer Adams?” Kerry says aloud in question. A girl in the front of the class raises her hand in embarrassment, looking to her friend beside her in a quandary. Kerry hands over a small box and pink flower. “With love.”

The helper hands over another set of items. Kerry looks over the note. “Michael Jones?”

Michael ignores the incessant poking at his back when he raises his hand. The freshman boy places before him a red gift bag that has an envelope taped to the outside. “With love.” Kerry tosses a heart-shaped candy at Ray along with an over-the-top kiss noise as he walks away. 

When Mrs. Ramsey clears her throat, Michael realizes he’s been staring at the gift bag on his desk since its appearance. Kerry and his helper are gone, as is Ray’s poking, and the lesson is back in progress. He pulls the envelope from the bag and opens it. Inside is a single piece of cardstock: one side with his name in calligraphy, the other with small neat handwriting.

Michael’s mind is reeling. He has no idea who could have sent him this. Peeking in the bag, he sees a thin plainly wrapped box. His fingers itch to open the box. He doesn’t deny them. 

Inside he finds his childhood. It’s a black Zelda Game Watch --no, it's _the_ Zelda Game Watch-- with a real working Zelda game for the screen, and he’s never been able to find one that wasn’t over a hundred bucks on eBay. 

"Holy shit," he thinks to himself.

“Sweet watch,” Ray comments. 

Michael tries to tamp down the raging nerd boner he has. “Yeah it is,” he responds quite breathlessly. 

Now he's really confused; Michael can’t think of anyone he knows that is interested in him. He can’t even think of anyone who knows him well enough to know he’s been looking for this watch for ages. 

Then it strikes him that maybe it’s an elaborate joke set up by Ray, but just as quickly, he reminds himself that Ray wouldn’t put a week’s worth of work into a prank. He’s got a week to figure it out, either with clues or by waiting until Friday.

Fuck, this was gonna be a long week. 

** Tuesday **

For some reason, when Kerry and his helper walk into his class on Tuesday morning, Michael is surprised. Of course, there were a handful of other people who received gifts from the cupid, just yesterday, but Michael still didn’t expect to get a gift. 

Yet, on his desk was another red gift bag with another envelope attached. He goes straight for the contents of the bag, pulling out a t-shirt perfectly folded to show the “gettin’ jiggy wit’ it” text on top of a golden puzzle piece. Beneath it he finds a beanie that looks very much like the top of banjo kazooie’s head. 

He can’t stop smiling as he opens the envelope.

His love of Banjo Kazooie isn’t hidden per se, but along with yesterday’s gift, someone must have really done some digging to know how perfect these gifts are. Now he can’t stop the warmth spreading up his face. 

Michael quickly slips the note back in its envelope, taking care not to bend it. 

“You ever gonna let me read the notes?” Ray whispers in his ear, an attempt to start a discussion without alerting their teacher. 

Michael shakes his head firmly, once to the left then right.

“Asshole.”

“Now that that’s all done,” Mrs. Ramsey calls out to gain the class’s full attention, “back to the lesson.”

** Wednesday **

Another day’s gift doesn’t throw Michael off today when Kerry arrives. The giant--think carnival prize hanging from the rafters giant--Yoshi plushie that’s delivered to him on the other hand has him speechless. 

The looks and snickers he gets from the class cause him to neglect the accompanying note until he gets to his locker after class. His cursing gets Michael stranger looks than the presence of the neon green dinosaur, so he quickly gives up trying to cram the stuffed animal into the tiny metal closet. 

He sets Yoshi down and grabs his math book to shove into his bookbag. The crisp white envelope catches his eye. Half hidden in his locker, Michael reads the note.

The ringing bell signalling the beginning of the next period, stops Michael from going over the note again. He snatches Yoshi up from the ground, slamming his locker door, and runs off to English class. 

_The Picture of Dorian Grey_ ends up sitting on his desk completely ignored as Michael reads and re-reads the words of today’s note. 

No one’s ever said anything that nice to him before. He’s touched and now even more confused as to who the sender can be. Knowing what things to buy him is easily obtainable information, all one needs to do is ask Ray. Knowing Michael enough to say things like that is a whole ‘nother story. 

Michael worries now that he’s not as good a friend to whoever sent this to him. He reads it once again, thinking. 

** Thursday **

It’s no surprise that Kerry places a gift bag on Michael’s desk on Thursday morning. The surprise comes from the small ring box he sees inside. With wide eyes, he passes it by to grab the envelope. 

There’s a hand-made card today: the front has a eight-bit heart drawn on it. Above, it says, “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.” The back carries today’s note.

Michael stares blankly at the paper for a few moments, letting the words sink in. He reads it once again. Mulls it all over in his head. Then he remembers the ring box and panics a little. 

He’s received a love poem and a ring box. He has no idea what’s going on or who this is from and the panic sets in a little more. Someone’s hopes are really high and he doesn’t think he can reach them. 

Carefully, he pries open the ring box while it’s still inside the bag. He really wishes he could have some privacy right now, if only five minutes to see what it is. Michael sighs in relief when he sees two objects inside. The little box containing a set of gold triforce cufflinks. 

He puts everything back in the gift bag and then into his bookbag. When he sits back up, Michael’s heart beats loudly in his ears, Mrs. Ramsey’s voice drowned out. 

‘Maybe,’ he thinks, ‘I should get Ray’s advice.’

He waits until after school. A quick “COD?” text sent as he drops off his books at the end of the day nets him a “yerp” and sets him off towards the front of the building. 

Michael uses the game’s loading screen to breach the topic. “So, this valentine thing is a little more serious than I thought.” He fails to sound nonchalant. 

Ray, changing batteries on his controller, doesn’t look away to ask, “What do you mean?” 

“Well, the gifts were all fine and good until I got a ring box and a love poem today.”

That gets Ray’s attention. “Ring box?”

“It didn’t have a ring in it! Just some cufflinks, but I freaked out about it nonetheless.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Michael hesitates, brain scrambling as he tries to pinpoint his own opinion on the matter, “I’m, um... Well, what if… I guess…”

“Spit it out, Michael.”

“I don’t understand how someone can like me this much,” he blurts. “Like, I don’t know who they are.”

“That’s part of the fun. The surprise you get from finding out.”

“But what if I _don’t know_ them? Fuck! What if I _do_?

“Calm your tits, dude. It’s just supposed to be a good time.”

“I understand that. It’s just,” Michael pauses, thinking about today’s note. “Here,” he digs into his bookbag, grabbing the envelope, “tell me again to calm my tits.”

Ray takes it from his hand. His face smiling as he looks at the graphic. The smile fades until Ray’s lips are set in a thin line. “Oh.”

“Shit, yeah, ‘oh’.” 

“Look on the bright side,” Ray starts, Michael give him a questioning look, “at least you can get a date out of it.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Seriously,” he exclaims. “Now you know some girl--or guy!--wants in those pants.”

Michael rolls his eyes with a groan, “Who even thought this was a good idea in the first place? And is this fucking game done loading yet? Fuck!”

** Friday **

Nerves get the best of him as he sits in his seat awaiting announcements on Friday morning. Michael knows today’s the last day of gift-giving; it’s finally Valentine’s Day and his admirer will be revealed.

He is most worried about how he will react than who it will be. Ray passes by him as he returns from sharpening his pencils. 

“You know it’s me, right?” Ray states matter-of-factly.

Michael whips his head around, a glare on his face. “What?”

“I said, it’s been me.” Ray looks up into Michael’s eyes, his long, curled lashes obvious with the flurry of blinking he’s doing. 

“You’re an asshole and a bad liar,” Michael says facing forward again. 

Ray snorts behind him. “Come on. It could have been me.”

“I thought that for a split second on Monday. Then I remembered how much of a lazy ass you are.”

“Way too much work, you’re right. Guess that’s why I’m single.”

Michael shakes his head with a laugh. “That and you’re an asshole.”

“Fuck you, I’m awesome. Anyway,” he draws out the second syllable, “any idea who it is?”

“Nope.” 

The intercom system kicks on.

“Guess we’ll find out soon.” Ray says.

Michael swallows as his nerves pick up again. 

There’s no gift bag today. Just a red envelope with Michael’s name written large on the outside. He pulls out a store bought card wishing him a Happy Valentine’s Day. From inside the card falls a 12-month membership card for XBox Live. In the same handwriting he’s seen all week, he reads the only text inside the card.

Michael feels horrible. How could someone think that he wouldn’t at least give them a chance? He wonders if he really comes off as that much of a hard ass. 

“Damn, now I need to think of something else to give you for your birthday,” Ray’s voice draws Michael from his thoughts. 

He laughs, “I did notice you were starting to fall into a pattern.” 

“Did it say who it is?”

“No. Asked me to the dance though.”

“Oooo,” Ray’s voice takes a valley girl tone. “A date! Can I come over tonight and do your hair?” He slides his fingers between Michael’s curls, sectioning parts off as if he had a comb. 

Michael’s arm swings over his head as he swats Ray’s hands away. “If you’re lucky, you‘ll get to see how nice I clean up.” 

~~

It’s not until he gets home that Michael realizes that today’s note was actually signed. He’s sitting in his bed with the cards laid out before him. _‘Maybe,’_ he thinks, spotting the tiny letters in the corners, _‘these aren’t just notations.’_

Trust a gamer to figure out a puzzle. A puzzle that reveals **Gavin** as the sender of his gifts. 

“Gavin, huh?” Michael says aloud. He had no idea who his admirer was, but he sure didn’t expect Gavin. 

Gavin, who typically has half the girls around him tripping over themselves to get his attention. Honestly, Michael didn’t even know Gavin swung the other way. Which is why he’s never even thought of Gavin in any other way than as the guy who always finds a way to make you laugh. 

And now he feels bad, because the Brit really put in a shitton of time and effort over the week. Yet, when he thinks about Gavin in any context other than cracking jokes at lunch or falling over himself as they play video games, it doesn’t quite click. 

Now to think of his way out. At the very least, he knows he owes Gavin a face-to-face answer. Cause getting stood up at a high school dance is the start of too many depressing stories. 

He throws on a polo shirt and a nice pair of jeans. Michael second guesses himself when donning Gavin’s Banjo beanie, deciding in the end that he wants to show his appreciation for what surely took time to find. Checking himself out in the mirror once again, he thinks, _’not too bad.’_ It’s a shitty dance, not his wedding. Either way, he looks good.

“Wish me luck,” he texts Ray. A returned thumbs-up emoticon alerts him. 

“Fuck you for sending that message. BTW”

Michael grins, remembering himself taking advantage of Ray’s turned back to message Ryan yesterday after school, “love connection?”

Ray’s ellipsis pop up and disappear a few times as he types and then deletes his response, “we’re hangin out tomorrow.”

“What’s the “I told you so” face look like?”

“I really wish there was a middle finger on here.”

Michael sends back a heart icon and grabs his keys to head out. It’s nearly seven when he parks, nerves kicking in again, worse than this morning. He moseys over to the huge balloon archway welcoming the party-goers and immediately sees Kerry working the door. 

“They still making you wear the diaper?” Michael jokes.

“It was my idea, actually!” Kerry laughs loudly, then winks, “I’ve got it on under my pants.”

“No wonder you and Ray are friends,” He says, walking past the table and into the school. 

The hallway outside the gym is decorated in so much pink it looks like a bottle of Pepto Bismol exploded and the gym seems to have undergone an avalanche of hearts. Michael’s reminded why he hates the holiday. He thinks his ability to distinguish shades of pink is gone. 

“Michael!” Lindsay runs up to him in greeting, Barbara trailing behind hand-in-hand. She looks great, a twirly dress over tights and a shawl that she seems to be using more for dramatics than fashion. “I thought you weren’t coming?”

“Had to take care of some business.”

“Looking for someone special?” Barbara wags her eyebrows. 

He scoped out the room then checks his watch. Just after seven, perfect. “Actually, I am.” Michael makes his way toward the boys’ locker room. Somehow, he hoped the clues were a trick. G, A, V, I, N, spelled out to serve as a ruse, a red herring while another admirer swoops in. What other admirer he’d prefer, Michael has no clue.

But it’s not. Gavin is standing beside the door, little square, blocky-green pin on the collar of his button up. There’s no denying who it is. 

“Michael.” Gavin smiles brightly. 

“Hey, Gav.” 

“Well, if you’re here then you know I’m the one who was sending you stuff this week,” he rattles off. 

“About that,” Michael starts but is interrupted by Gavin’s continued rambling. 

“I was a little worried that you weren’t gonna show. I’ve been standing here forever it seems.”

Michael puts on a serious face and rests his hand on Gavin’s flailing arm. “Gavin.” 

Gavin looks up and his face falls. 

“I’m here because I wanted to thank you for all the gifts and the sentiment behind them. It’s just that, I don’t really feel the same sentiment back.”

“But.. I… the poem?”

“The poem was awesome. Everything was awesome, really. But it’d be unfair to you if I said I felt anything other than friendship--a great friendship, by the way-- toward you.”

Gavin’s face crumbles even more. 

“I mean I can give you back the gifts…” Michael pulls the beanie off his head. 

“No!” Gavin puts his hands up in protest. “Those are yours.”

“Gav,” Michael starts, running his fingers through his hair.

Gavin interrupts him, “Don’t worry about this.” His hand waves around pointing to the room. “I knew this was a possibility.” 

Guilt bubbles up in Michael’s stomach, he’s a total asshole. “Gavin,” he starts again.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it.” He looks past Michael’s shoulder. “Um, I think I see Barbara calling me. I’ll see you around, Michael.”

Michael watches as Gavin practically _runs_ away from him and into the crowd. He sighs deeply, feeling like a complete tool, and heads to his car. The rest of his evening is spent ignoring Twitter updates from Lindsay and Barbara enjoying their first Valentine’s Day together. Hoping it will be sufficient distraction, Michael turns to teabagging as many people as possible in Halo. There’s no satisfaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me everyone, there _will_ be a happy ending. After a little angst first, of course.


	3. Gavvy, Come Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Valentine's Day was a bust. 
> 
> Michael hates hurting people's feelings, intentionally. Thankfully for him, however, Gav's always been able to bounce back after one of Michael's rages. 
> 
> Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SMOKES! You guys are awesome! I'm so happy someone out there likes this little story that spiralled out of control from my original intent. But anyway, we're getting closer to the happy ending. I'd love to know what you all think.

** Monday **

“I assume you spent the weekend making out with your new valentine?” Ray chides, bumping into Michael’s locker. 

“Did you spend it dry humping Ryan on your couch?”

Ray frowns at Michael and mumbles under his breath, “no.”

“Well neither did I.”

“You’re not even gonna tell me who it was?”

Michael shrugs, laughing to himself at the face Ray makes in return. Closing his locker, Michael heads toward first period, Ray running behind him a second later. 

“You suck, you know that.”

Michael turns to his friend. “It’s was Gavin.” 

“Gavin?” Ray questions, then realizes the answer. “Oh. Uh. What’d you say?”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” 

“That’s kinda harsh.”

“Well, I didn’t say it exactly like that.”

“Still, he put a lot of work into all that shit.”

“I know, Ray,” each word enunciated and a little too loud for the volume of the hallway. Michael clears his throat. “Thanks for making me feel like more of a jackass about it.”

“That’s what friends are for.” Ray slides into the classroom first. 

~~

At lunch, it’s obvious everyone knew of Gavin’s intentions except for Michael. Their usually crowded table now only housing Michael, Ray, and Lindsay. 

“Light lunch today, huh?” Michael tries to break the awkward silence as they eat.

Lindsay shrugs. “I think Barb said everyone’s doing last minute homework.” 

“Aren’t they all in different grades?”

Another awkward silence breaks out.

“So, did _I_ do something wrong here?” Michael asks the air.

“No!” Lindsay almost yells. “No,” voice much lower, “you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Was I supposed to fall madly in love over 5 days or something?”

“No.”

“Was I supposed to lie and say ‘fuck yeah, me too!’ to him?”

Eyes turned down, Lindsay shakes her head. “Well, no.”

“Could I have let him down differently? Possibly. But I’ve learned one thing being friends with him. Be clear and to the precise point. Otherwise everything gets jumbled up in that head of his.”

Lindsay smiles a bit. “You’ve got a point.”

“I know, now tell him to build a bridge and get over it. Everyone’s in love with me. Today’s no different than tomorrow.”

Michael hears Ray chuckle beside him and sees Lindsay smile a bit more.

** Thursday **

Michael’s double-checking Ray’s XBox One connections when he hears him clomping down the stairs. 

“Gav’s not coming. Said he’s got a report due.” 

“Gavin choosing homework over video games? I’ve never heard of such a thing!” Michael laughs as Ray walks into the basement with a pizza box. 

“I think that was his ‘PC’ way of ditching us.”

Snatching the first slice, Michael continues, “What’s he got to be ‘PC’ for?”

Ray looks at Michael skeptically. “Um, cause of you, genius.”

“What? What’d the fuck I do?” 

“Crushed his little British soul when you told him no one would ever love him.”

“Shut up! And what? I thought everyone was over that by now?” 

“Obviously not him. He hasn’t even been around all week.”

Michael realizes then that Ray’s right. He hadn’t noticed, but Gavin’s presence has been absent from the lunch table. And now that he thought of it, he hadn’t seen Gavin online either, not on AIM or XBox Live. 

“Well, fuck,” Michael says, mainly to himself. He shakes off the twinges of guilt he feels again and puts on a grin. “Guess he’s missing out on the last night of Titanfall.”

“Wow, you’re just a sweetheart.” 

“I’m a doll, I know. Now. It’s robot killing time.”

~~

Later that night, in an attempt to ease his own conscience, he texts Gavin, “hey.” It’s well past one in the morning when Michael decides to give up checking for new messages. 

** Friday **

By sheer stroke of luck, Michael sees Gavin on Friday. Rounding a corner on his way towards the gymnasium, he crashes right into someone.

“What the hell.” Michael shouts, careful to mind his language while in possible earshot of teachers, before looking up to see who he collided with. “Gavin,” he squawks in surprise. “I didn’t see you there.”

Gavin kneels down to pick up the book he dropped. “It’s no problem.” 

A laundry list of thoughts cross his mind. “You know, I haven’t really seen you much _at all_ lately.”

Gavin shoulders lift in a half shrug. 

“Missed you during the Titanfall beta.” 

“I played a little last weekend,” says Gavin, body language screaming his discomfort.

“Oh.”

Michael suddenly becomes acutely aware that he’s moving between classes and that the bell will sound at any minute. “Look, Gav."

Gavin, probably anticipating one of the many conversations they may have, lifts his hand to stop Michael. 

"No, wait, really. I hope that your recent vanishing act hasn't been because of me and if it has then, fuck, I feel like a shithead. But I want you to know that you're a really good friend of mine and I hope that I haven't fucked it up." 

Gavin stands stock still for a moment, a feat Michael hasn’t witnessed very often. "Thanks."

"So when can I blow you up in GTA again?"

A small grin appears on Gavin's face as the bell rings. 

"Fuck." Michael turns to run. "I'll text you." 

~~

Changing into his uniform, Michael sends Gavin a quick text. "my house.. tomorrow?"

The "sure" he gets in return eases a bit of the weight in his stomach. 

**Saturday**

After sending five texts throughout the morning and getting no response, Michael settles on the fact the Gavin might still be a little mad at him. That or he's just an asshole who doesn't return texts. The latter being a somewhat common occurrence. He distracts himself with Dead Rising 3, trugging along to get the zombie kills achievements, blaming Ray for their gamerscore competition 

100,000 zombies later, the buzz of his phone draws his attention away from the game. 

“Oops,” reads the text from Gavin.

He shakes his head and types out, “dumbass.”

“You eat yet?”

“Nope.”

“I’m bringing sandwiches.”

“You know just the way to a man’s heart."

“Be there in 20.”

~~

Gavin strolls into Michael’s bedroom, surprisingly on time, with a plastic bag filled with food. Two huge deli sandwiches from Quickchek and five different kinds of chips spill across Michael’s mattress as Gavin gets comfortable on the bed against the wall. 

“So, the XBox One’s already on, was playing Dead Rising earlier,” Michael says from his spot kneeling on the floor in front of his tv, “but I can hook up the 360.” 

“OR!” Michael interrupts Gavin as he starts to respond. “You can get my Peggle 2 achievements for me.”

“How about no.” 

Michael laughs. “I had to ask.”

“Nice try, you cheeky boy. Thought we said GTA?”

“Oh yeah.” Michaels starts switching around the cables connected to the television, making quick work of the task. “You still need to get Lester don’t you? How are you over level 50 and still haven’t gotten shit from level 20?”

“Cause you and Ray only invite me to deathmatches and races.”

Sitting beside Gavin, Michael nudges him in the shoulder with a smile. “You right.”

Gavin smiles in return, shaking his head.

They do a lot of wandering around in Los Santos. Mostly waiting for the random phone call from Lester to initiate the contact needed to unlock his services. To occupy time, Gavin rides shotgun as he and Michael run around town killing other players in the online session. They spend half an hour in a fit of giggles when Gavin attempts to steal a jet from the military base, Michael watching from the fences as Gavin gets shot down over and over. 

“MI-COOL! Stop laughing at me!”

Michael pauses to catch his breath. “Stop being so bad at games, then.” 

“But they’ve got tanks, MICHAEL!” 

“It’s the military. What do you expect?”

“I just want a jet!” 

Gavin’s character reappears a few feet beside him and runs back out to the road to steal another car. “Maybe you should be better at getting out the base then.”

“Mi-cooool.” Gavin turns puppy eyes to Michael, voice two octaves higher and pleading.

“Fine, I’ll get you a jet.” 

It takes him two attempts, his car hitting a bump before it could launch over the fence the first time, but Michael quickly gets in and out of the virtual military base. Gavin squeals when he parks the airliner next to him on the highway, wanted level free. 

Throwing his arm around Michael’s shoulders, Gavin hugs him close. “That’s why you’re my boi.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Michael softly nudges him back, leaving Gavin’s arm in place. “Now what did you even want this for?”

“I thought it could help with the Lester stuff.”

“Did you really think missions available to _level 20_ players needed a fighter jet?” Gavin shrugs and Michael erupts into laughter again, falling over into Gavin’s lap as he clutches his stomach. “You’re an idiot, Gavin.” 

“Stop laughing, you donut.”

He wipes at his eyes, tears on the edge of falling. “I’m gonna get abs from laughing so hard.” 

Looking down at Michael’s head on his thighs, Gavin whines, “You’re being mean to me, Michael.” 

Michael looks up thoughtfully, seeing Gavin’s frown and the way his eyes still have that playful light in them. “Your nostril looks like a black hole from here.”

Gavin makes a wailing noise as he cries out Michael’s name, hand mushing Michael’s face into the denim of his jeans. Michael’s cheerful laugh starting up again while he rolls back into a sitting position. 

Michael eventually discovers that the reason Gavin had yet to acquire access to Lester’s services was because he’d never taken the first step necessary to get them. “You’re telling me that you’d never even met with him?” 

“But, he’s in my phone.”

“He becomes a contact the first time he calls you. Then you have to go _see_ him.”

“I thought I did that.”

“You still have the huge fucking L on your map!” 

“I thought it was something else.”

“The map legend **tells** you it’s Lester!”

Gavin squeaks in response to Michael's elevated volume. 

Literally five minutes later, Gavin walks out of Lester’s house with all the perks unlocked. 

“God, you’re such a mong.”

“Let’s go get a chopper!” Gavin squeals happily. 

They spend the night wreaking havoc and dying repeatedly; only taking a break to wrestle after Gavin purposely fails a co-op mission. It’s close to midnight by the time Michael gives Gavin a ride back home.

When he finally plops back into his bed, Michael sends Gav a “night” text that gets replied to quickly. He falls asleep with a smile on his face, sure they’re back to norm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Titled this chapter and still can't get (tone)Geoff singing it out of my head. 
> 
> "Baby, come back! Ooooooo!"


	4. ~DREAM SEQUENCE~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~~~wavy dream lines~~~
> 
> Cause every high school ~~movie~~ AU needs a wet dream!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (move this to the top because I want you all to know I love you from the beginning)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's reading this and giving me life by hitting the kudos button. 
> 
> I'm sure there are a bunch of people very upset with me that I'm updating this 'verse and not my supernatural one. But like I told my bff, it's funny how inspiration (and motivation) blooms when people show you they like what you're doing. 
> 
> So this is for all the LOVELYAWESOMESPECTACULARFANTASTIC people who make up the hits and kudos. I LOVE YOU ALL!

“GOD DAMN IT, GAVIN!” Michael yells before tackling the other man to the floor, a loud croak and subsequent squeals coming from the Brit. 

“Mi-cool, please!” Gavin cries as Michael rolls them over again, trying to pin Gavin down. 

“You killed me! Again!” 

“I’m sorry, Michael!” 

Michael sits across Gavin’s hips, hands pushing his shoulders to the ground. “If you really were sorry, you’d stop killing me.”

“I will, Michael. I’m sorry!” 

He lets up slightly and Gavin bucks his hips, throwing Michael off balance. Gav quickly squirms out from under him, pinning Michael down, much to his surprise. “Fucking hell!”

“I’ve gotcha, Michael.” 

“Don’t you realize that you weigh ten pounds?” Before he finishes the sentence, Michael has Gavin on his back again, laughing at Gavin’s squeal. “Silly, Gavvy-wavvy.”

“You’re so strong, my Mogar.”

Michael shakes his head at the nickname, created during one of Gavin’s hypothetical-question sessions as they played Minecraft, then raises an eyebrow when Gavin grinds his hips up into him. 

Michael grumbles, playful seriousness written across his face, “don’t try to distract me!”

Gavin smirks, hands running up Michael’s thighs to squeeze his ass. 

“I’m still pissed and it won’t work.” 

The faint feeling of nails across his lower back, makes Michael shudder. “Damn you.” 

“What do you mean, Michael?”

Grabbing Gavin’s arms from around him, Michael holds down both wrists above Gav’s head with one hand. He feels the cocky bastard’s triumphant smile against his lips when he pulls Gavin closer to him. Michael kisses him harder as a show of chest-thumping. Gavin just smiles more.

He parts when he can tell that Gavin’s really getting into it. Hand still firm across Gavin’s wrists, Michael glares at the boy beneath him. “You know you can never get the upper hand against me, right?” 

Leaning down, Michael plants teasing kisses along Gavin’s neck, knowing now all the spots that make him moan. Little flicks of his tongue on the thin skin around his collar bone. A brief attempt at a hickey right below his ear. All the moves that have Gavin squirming again and Michael grinning like a mad man in his head. 

He feels Gavin try to pull his wrists free and takes that as his cue, quickly jumping up from the floor and taking a seat back on his bed. “All right now. Can we get back to the game?”

“Cheeky boy.” Gavin laughs as he sits up, adjusting his jeans to accommodate the boner Michael proudly inspired. Not a second later, Gavin is in Michael’s lap, slow and deliberate circles of his hips as he pulls Michael’s head back by the hair to kiss him again. 

Michael feels the buzz of Gavin’s phone, trying to ignore it in favor of getting lost in the feeling of Gavin’s tongue against his. The phone vibrates incessantly. He breaks away, a bite to Gavin’s bottom lip. “Is that your phone in your pocket or is it some kinda sex toy?” 

“You’re horrible and cheesy and that’s why I love you,” Gavin responds, fishing through his pockets. He pulls it out and Michael immediately grabs the phone to stop the alarm. 

Looking at the phone in his hands, Michael sees the time is a quarter past seven in the morning. 

Suddenly, he realizes he’d been dreaming a second ago. 

Then he realizes he’s half an hour behind in getting ready for school. 

Then he remembers what he was dreaming about. 

Michael scrambles around the room looking for the cleanest items he can find, talking aloud to himself. “You don’t have time for a Gavin freak out right now. Clothes, teeth, car. Fuck everything else.” He stops and stares at the “getting jiggy wit it” t-shirt in his hand. “Fuck my life, I was dry humping Gavin in my dreams.” He quickly pulls the shirt over his head, “School, damn it.” 

Luckily, he slides into his chair just as the late bell rings. 

“You just come from a marathon?” Ray mocks. Michael replies by maneuvering his hand behind his head and giving him the finger. 

Thankfully, Mrs. Ramsay allows the class to work freely, giving Michael the opportunity to panic _at_ Ray. 

**“Dude!”**

Ray rolls his eyes at the anxiety he hears in Michael’s voice. “What happened now?”

“I had a dream like a bad fanfic.”

Confusion written across his face, Ray asks, “how do you know what a fanfic is?”

“You made me read that ridiculous Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon one. Remember?”

Now it's Ray's turn to look apprehensive. “Oh. Yeah.” Clearing his throat, he starts again, “anyway, what’s this about a dream?”

Michael leans over like he’s sharing the answer to all of life’s questions. “I dreamt about Gavin.”

It takes a moment, but the pieces come together. “Boner dream?”

“Boners in the dream, no boners from the dream. But if my alarm hadn’t gone off, there probably would have been.” 

“Boner dream.” Ray says with a contemplative tone, letting the words’ implications settle in. “Well, what’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem?!” Michael’s borderline hysterical, eyes darting around the room to make sure no one hears his frenzied whispers. “That my guilt over valentine’s day has manifested in wet dreams about erotic wrestling.”

“One, TMI, dude. TMI. Two, your guilt doesn’t have it’s own brain. If you’re dreaming about _that_ then that’s all from you.” 

“That’s even worse!”

“How? It means you opened your eyes and saw what he’s been seeing for a while.“

Michael’s left speechless, attention falling back to the sketch in front of him as he thinks over what Ray said. 

“I mean, who really loses in that situation?” Ray cuts in again. “I believe the answer is no one.”

Michael turns up an eyebrow. “Alright, no need to be smug.” 

“I’m just saying. So you were an ass.” He shrugs. “You were overwhelmed by the whole thing and didn’t think it through. Hell, you thought I was behind it at one point.” 

Michael laughs. “I must have been delusional.”

“Fuck you, I’m a catch. Seriously though, as long as your feelings aren’t out of pity or some fucked way of apologizing.” Ray pauses. “It’s not one of those, right?” 

“No, I’m not that much of an asshole.” 

“So, once again, what’s the problem?”

Michael mocks “so, what’s the problem” under his breath, a little peeved that Ray can spell it all out so neatly and yet he remains confused about everything. He’s not even sure if there’s anything more to the dream than being a one-off thing after a night of hanging out. It could’ve been a coincidence, Gavin being the last person he saw before going to bed. Michael feels like he’s grasping for straws in his own head. He sighs and resigns that it was a one-time thing. 

Of course, that night, Michael finds out how many of Gavin’s inappropriate sounds his brain has decided to keep track of and how applicable they are to an imagined makeout session. Waking up with a boner, Micahel shakes his head that he was right about the other dream's probable result. He fails to stop the flashes of heated kisses and hurried groping from his mind as he takes care of himself in the shower. 'So much for coincidence,' Michael thinks, watching the last of the soap suds spiral down the drain.


	5. Well... bollocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *plot twist* It's Gavin's POV!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very unbeta'd and very much a belated b-day gift to myself.
> 
> Also, I would once again like to thank everyone who's been following along and all those who've given kudos. You are the reason I continue writing.

**Pre-VDay**

It’s nights like this, Gavin wishes he could capture and store away in some fashion. He’s squished between his two best friends on the couch in Ray’s basement; curses and elbows flying as they unsuccessfully attempt to complete a heist in Monaco. 

Gavin’s decision to pick his character purely on its pet monkey doesn’t bode well for the other two, who direct most of their ire with dying or getting caught on him. Yet, in between levels, the yelling becomes laughing. Michael tackling Gavin to the ground while Ray cheers along. Gavin defending his choice to them over the sound of Michael’s giggles thanks to Ray’s teasing jokes. 

They eventually retire the game and put in a movie, a fresh pizza sitting on the table at their outstretched feet. 

Belly full of dough and cheese, Gavin relaxes back into the cushions of the couch, contentment seeping through his body. Michael’s rumbling laughter shakes him from his oncoming food coma and Gavin smiles when he looks at the boy to his right. 

Michael is so bloody cute when he’s happy. Like now, when he’s laughing particularly hard and his face reddens so his freckles stand out even more. Gavin loves it when that happens ‘cause Michael’s freckles are adorable. He can’t really say it aloud, well not to Michael at least, but he’d love to kiss each one of those freckles. 

Michael licks his lips and Gavin’s eyes can’t help but refocus there. The moisture reflects some light from the tv screen and Gavin can see how pink they look against his pale skin. The urge to touch overcomes him again. Just a light touch. His thumb brushing against Michael’s bottom lip. Gosh, Michael’s lips look so soft. 

“Poop jokes will never not be funny,” Michael says, looking in Gavin’s direction. 

Caught in the act, Gavin scrambles to figure out what the topic at hand is. “Yeah... poop.”

Michael’s raises his eyebrow in confusion and turns back to the screen. 

_‘IDIOT!’_ Gavin screams at himself then directs his attention back to the movie. 

Ray excuses himself to the bathroom when the credits start rolling, leaving Gavin and Michael in the darkened basement. 

“You alright?” Michael asks. 

Gavin responds with a noise of confusion. 

“You looked spaced out a few times there. Didn’t like the movie?”

“No, uh, it was ‘cause of the food baby.” Gavin pushes out his stomach exaggeratedly and pats it like a proud mother. 

Michael chuckles, “nothing like a crapton of pizza to make you sleepy.”

“Exactly.”

“So what are you up to tomorrow?”

“Barbara’s coming over so I can help her with the Valentine’s Day dance plans or something. Her and Lindsay are going mental over it.” 

“Ha! Yeah, girls and Valentine’s Day. Such a stereotype, amiright?”

“I guess. But it’s not so bad, really. It’s nice if you have someone to celebrate with.” 

“Does that mean you have someone in mind?”

Gavin’s breath catches in his throat for a moment, flashes of a candlelit dinner with Michael holding his hand across the table, before Michael’s voice cuts in again. “I’m sure Barbara’s available.”

Gavin holds back from rolling his eyes and groaning when Michael does the joking elbow nudge. “Barb’s more interested in the dance than me.”

“Well I’m sure there’s plenty of single ladies out there waiting, though.” 

Gavin responds with a mumbled, “yeah,” disheartened sigh at the continued confirmations that Michael’s not really interested. 

* * *

**Post-VDay**

It bloody sucks being rejected. _It sucks nobs_. Even worse is when you get rejected and still want to be around that person. 

Gavin knew the Valentine’s day thing could blow up royally. Barbara and Lindsay’s insistent pestering of _‘you’ll never know how Michael feels if you didn’t make a move’_ giving him the courage to throw caution to the wind and go for it. 

Which leaves him where he is now, intentionally skipping lunch so he doesn’t have to see Michael. Doesn’t have to see him play the event off as a joke. Doesn’t have to see Michael call Gavin a joke.

In spite of it all, Gavin misses Michael. 

It’s… _interesting_ being friends with Michael Jones. Some would say difficult, but Gavin has always been up for a challenge. He understands, of course, why they say that. Michael has a way of looking like he’ll rip your throat out barehanded all while sporting a smile on his face. 

That can be intimidating to people; to Gavin it’s hilarious. Mainly because he’s seen his softer moments. Like when Michael laughs so hard it’s impossible not to laugh with him or the time Ray sprained his ankle and Michael tried to nurse him back to heal with a shoddy attempt at homemade chicken noodle soup. As much as Michael comes off as a tough guy, he’s a softie at heart. 

And it’s little things like that, that led Gavin down the path where he found himself falling for one of his best friends. Unfortunately for him, Michael is walking on the other side of the planet. 

It’s four days into his voluntary isolation and Gavin feels bad for flaking on Ray. They’d both been overly excited for the Titanfall beta but he knows he can’t spend a night around Michael and pretend nothing happened. As much as Michael seems to be doing it for the both of them. 

When he gets a text from Michael later that night, Gavin fights his impulses, choosing to turn off his phone so he isn’t tempted to reply. 

~~

Literally, bumping into Michael does nothing to make him feel better about his self-imposed confinement. Michael looks genuinely upset because of it, which makes Gavin feel like a complete twat. A twat who ignores his best friend after coming on way too strong and being politely told so. 

He’s still worried about being around Michael alone but, as always, decides to move forward anyway; picking up snacks for their rekindling over video games. Thankfully, it’s smooth sailing. Gavin treads lightly to make sure his flub from last week isn’t still hindering their friendship but they eventually fall right back into place. Messing about in GTA keeping the time light-hearted and full of laughter. 

Gavin’s heart leaps into his throat when Michael falls into his lap, face bright pink from glee, eyes moving with his to decipher the expression. Gavin has a passing thought about how it’d be a perfect time to lean down and kiss him, before Michael makes a joke about his nose. _‘Just like always,’_ Gavin notes. 

He thinks about kissing Michael again that night when Michael drops him off at home. It’s nearing midnight when they pull up to the huge tree next to the sidewalk. 

Michael puts the car in park and turns down his radio, “Had an awesome time today, Gav.” 

“Me, too.” 

“Glad you can finally call off the cops when we play online. Our crew can finally evade the law.” Michael looks around the car with an exaggerated look of suspicion and Gavin laughs. 

“Me, too.” 

A slow tempoed song starts playing, Dave Matthews Band, if Gavin can recall the vocalist correctly. They share a look and a smile, the comfortable silence becoming a little tense as the voice croons “lost for you, I'm so lost, for you.” 

Michael lightly slaps his hand down on Gavin’s knee, “well, then.” He licks his lips and clears his throat. “I’ll let the rest of the crew know the good news. Talk to you tomorrow?”

Gavin snaps back to attention, stopping his eyes from their wandering across Michael’s face. “Yeah.” He unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the door. “Good night, Michael.”

“See ya, Gav.”

Walking into the house he spots the Ramsay’s, his exchange program family, curled up on the couch. Griffon, who’s being used as a pillow by her over-grown child of a husband, turns at the sound of the door. “Have a good night?”

Grin plastered on his face, Gavin answers. “It was top.”

“That’s great to hear, Gav. You haven’t really been yourself lately, so I’m glad Michael helped bring you out the slump.”

Gavin laughs to himself, Griffon’s just like a mom to notice his mood change but not know the cause.

“Anyway, if you’re hungry or anything, there’s some leftovers in the fridge.” 

“I’m probably just gonna head to bed. Night.”

Falling into bed, Gavin opens the group message he has with Barbara and Lindsay letting them know he’s home. Barb almost instantly responds, “deets?” 

“Tomorrow,” he replies setting the phone on his side table. Curled up under his blankets, his phone vibrates again. This time it’s a text from Michael, “night” all it reads. Gavin smiles, the text being Michael’s way of saying he’s home safely without having to express the sentiment, and sends back the same one word. 

He lets his thoughts wander again. When he really sits and thinks about it, the whole Valentine’s day thing could have gone much worse. Gavin knew Michael had a boyfriend before, so he didn’t have to worry about getting beat up for asking out a straight boy, but Michael could have easily stopped being friends with him or worse strung him along in pity. A week of not speaking seems a better compromise and now that they’re back to normal, Gavin can pretend nothing happened. 

Michael doesn’t like him in the same way and that’s fine. They’ve been friends for a year now, it’s not like he hasn’t kept it to himself the whole time anyway. He can keep it to himself from now on, too.

It sucks nobs being rejected, but being friends with Michael makes up for it.


	6. Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuck Ray. 
> 
> But primarily, fuck everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that commented on my last post. I intended on replying to each one of you, but realized I'd pretty much be saying the same thing 11 times in a row. Thus, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who read and answered my post. That people are even still hanging around this long is astonishing to me, so thank you again! Seriously, it means a ton.
> 
> Now... as you can unfortunately see, I'm still having issues getting things up in a timely manner. So I've made the executive decision to finish the story with this chapter. There are some future plans in the end notes but that's for later.
> 
> For now, enjoy!

Michael’s never been more happy for a Gavin-free ( _HA!_ ) schedule than today. 

Ray’s voice continues to ring in his thoughts throughout his classes. _”What’s the problem?”_

The voice is quite higher-pitched and sounds a lot more like a little girl than Ray, but fuck him for putting the thoughts in his head in the first place. 

He tries to answer the question a thousand times, but can’t even bullshit himself enough to come up with anything at all. Sitting in science class, Michael lets his mind wander and lands on the memory of Saturday night again. 

He’s pulling the car up to Gavin’s house and it’s dark, reason one cause it’s damn near midnight but also because the tree in Gav’s front yard is blocking the streetlight, so his car is lit only by the radio’s display. They’re parting ways, when “Crash into Me” starts playing. Michael turns, starting to lay blame on his mom for the ballad, when he’s caught by the way Gavin looks in the blue-hued light of the radio.

Michael notes the little bit of stubble along Gavin’s jaw that’s probably prickly now but Michael’s sure will be as soft as the hair on his head if he ever grew a beard. 

_Gav would look good with a beard,_ he thinks briefly. 

Michael stops himself from staring and just smiles, momentarily stun by the way Gavin’s face brightens when he smiles back. The air in the car thickens suddenly and Michael slaps his hand down on Gavin’s knee to break the silence. Hurried goodbyes tumbling from his lips seconds later.

Now that he’s thinking about it two days later, the whole farewell matched the cheesy high school movie set up where the guy makes it to second base in his car. All it would’ve taken was Michael leaning across the center console and sliding his hand up …

The bell rings, marking the end of the period and Michael’s abrupt return to the real world. Where it’s lunch time; a period he can’t avoid seeing Gavin. He stops at his locker to grab his lunch bag and heads towards Ray’s, curses at the ready to blame him for the current state of his mind. 

Before he can get a word out, Ray spots him and frowns, turning in the direction of the lunchroom, “don’t look at me like that.”

“I hate you.”

“Why? Cause I’m the best and always right?”

“Cause you’re the worst and always wrong.”

“So you haven’t been thinking about Gavin for,” Ray stops in his tracks and checks his watch, “the last three hours?”

Michael fumes and stomps past him, “I hate you.” 

Ray laughs and slings his arm over Michael’s shoulders when he catches up, “you love me cause I’m a great wingman and how did you put it? ‘I cheerlead you into getting laid.’”

Michael pushes Ray with his shoulder, anger breaking into a smile with Ray’s laughter. “Fuck you.” Ray moves to lift his hand in response, the set up to some crude joke or gesture so Michael cuts him off, “don’t say a word.” 

“Cut me some slack, it could have been something nice.”

“But it wasn’t, was it?”

“Nope.”

They enter the cafeteria and this time when Michael pushes him, Ray moves away to sit on the other side of the table Michael choses. Miles is the first of their group to join them, Barbara and Lindsay following closely behind. 

By the time everyone settles down, the open seat next to Michael is the only one available when Gavin finally arrives with his food. 

“X-Ray!” Gavin calls out to Ray as he sits. 

“Vav!” Ray returns, “So I hear you’re finally a proper GTA online player. Now I won’t feel bad for setting muggers on you.” 

Gavin throws his arm around Michael, “yeah, my boi figured it out.” 

Michael squirms out of Gavin’s hold and talks around his mouthful. Face looking down to hopefully hide his momentary flush. “He never fucking talked to Lester. Big fucking L on his map the whole time.”

Ray shakes his head with a smirk, “you’re a genius, Vav.”

“At least I can get rid of my wanted levels now.” Gavin says, shit-eating grin on his face. 

The group’s typical small talk occurs during the 20 minute lunch period; Patrick and Miles exchanging sketches of their original characters; Barbara and Lindsay with their constant, now overt and open, flirting or horrible jokes and puns; Ray recruiting others to help him earn another random achievement. 

As time dwindles closer to the bell ringing, Michael spots Ray watching him. He makes a “what?!” face at him that Ray returns with a glare. Ray’s eyes start darting to the left. 

The direction Gavin’s in.

Now Michael glares back and his head shakes ‘no’ very quickly. Ray nudges him under the table with his foot and jerks his head to the left. Michael locks eyes with him in defiance and Ray’s head slowly tilts to the left, scowl ever present. Michael kicks him in the shin, laughing at the wince Ray tries to conceal. 

“What the fuck are you two doing?” Lindsay questions them loudly across the table. Their startled jumps makes her laugh. 

“What?” Michael questions with an air of confusion. 

“You two are weirdos.”

Michael laughs, “that’s saying something coming from you.” 

“Exactly.”

~~

Michael is ticking down the seconds until the last bell. He just wants to go home and lay down. Pretend that he hasn’t been replaying memories in his head all day. Pretend that in each of them he hasn’t become more and more aware of Gavin’s looks or the way Gavin touches him. Pretend that he hasn’t _somehow_ remembered the poem Gavin wrote him and found himself seeing it in action. Maybe Ray was right and he’s been blind to the signs that Gav was into him. And now that’s he’s looking back, he can see how Gavin thought he was interested.

They flirt _constantly_. Dick jokes, wrestling whenever possible, threesome jokes with Ray, they call each other their boys for fuck’s sake. Of course, Gavin thought he should take the relationship to the next level and ask him out. 

The buzz buzz in his pocket distracts him briefly, until he sees it’s from Gavin, then his face falls in worry. 

"Halo after school?”

He wonders how he’d act with Gavin if they were alone in a room again. Michael quickly replies, “Mario Party? I’ll ask Ray too.”

Gavin’s exclamation point in response eases his nerves. So does Ray’s “yes” to join them, he won’t be alone thankfully. They plan to meet at Michael’s around 4, which is the exact time Gavin strolls into his room.

Michael grabs his phone and texts Ray.

”Gav’s here you coming?”

“Mom had a list of shit for me to do. Guess you have Vav to yourself. :P”

“you were gonna ditch me the whole time weren’t you?”

“XOXO”

Michael shakes his head and tosses his phone on a pillow, “Ray has chores to do, so it’s just us.”

Gavin smiles from his seat at the edge of Michael’s bed. “Does that mean you’ll be the only one kicking my ass in Mario Party?” 

Michael laughs, “Halo it is, I guess.”

Gavin beams at him and Michael swallows around the lump in his throat. 

And just like it was before it all, everything is normal. Gavin fails hilariously and frequently; Michael threatens bodily harm at every fail; and they make it through an hour of the co-op campaign without a rage quit. 

Michael makes note of it and realizes Gavin is being a lot more mature about it than he is, especially since Gav’s the one who put themselves out there, not Michael. While he’s still not really sure how he feels about Gavin, he knows Gavin wasn’t outta left field. Coming in with four cans of Dr. Pepper stacked in his arms, Michael decides he should apologize again, hoping that will give him the time he needs to figure it out. 

“About last week...” 

“It’s okay, Michael.” Gavin reaches for a can and his eye contact reinforces the serious tone his voice has taken. “I came on really strong and put it all on the table without thinking about you. I was a right mog. I’m sorry about that.”

Michael makes a dissenting noise, “it’s okay. Actually,” he starts, ready to admit he understood.

“No, it wasn’t okay. I rushed into it without thinking about how you’d feel and put you in an awkward position. You don’t like me in that way. I’ve got it. I’ve moved on.”

Michael sits in stunned silence for a moment, mind reeling, just enough time for Gavin to blink away the sad look in his eyes and hop off the bed with a laugh. “Now,” he grabs Michael’s phone from it’s place on the nightstand and sits back down, “it’s time to call X-Ray. His little trick to get us alone was horribly transparent.”

“Wait,” Michael reaches out for the phone in Gavin’s hand, an automatic movement as his brain figures out what to say and do next. Gavin’s dismissal churning up all his feelings from the day. 

Yes, he just realized _today_ that he might like Gavin as more than a friend. 

Yes, he already told Gavin that he didn’t feel that way. 

But sometimes it takes a kick in the ass to make a move. Like the guy he’s just started crushing on ( _did he really just admit that?_ ), saying he’s not interested anymore. 

“Listen,” He pauses, still unsure of what he wants to say or even how to say it. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you wrote in your notes...”

Gavin folds in on himself a little, “and even more about Saturday. Really, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about a lot of things today.”

Sensing the tension in the room, Michael stupidly decides it’s a good time to look at Gavin. He’s the picture-perfect image of someone waiting for the other shoe to drop, as if Michael suddenly changed his mind about their friendship and wants out all together.

Gavin licks his lips, no doubt a nervous reaction, and Michael tracks the movement with his eyes. _‘Fuck it,’_ he says, hand moving to Gavin’s neck to pull him closer, ignoring the raise in Gav’s eyebrow. It’s a soft kiss, but holy shit, Michael was waiting for this. An initial touch of dry lips to slightly wet ones that turns into parted mouths then exploring tongues and ends in panting breaths. 

Gavin pulls away slightly, a smile on his face when Michael stretches his neck to chase another kiss, hair held back by the grip Gavin now has of the curls. Gavin indulges him, a quick peck that Michael turns into another round of breathlessness. 

“Uh, Michael? I mean, I don’t mean to complain, but… uh,” He looks down at Michael’s hand now sitting lightly on his hip and back up to Michael. 

Seeing the confusion in Gavin’s eyes now, Michael realizes how badly he fucked up. “I’m sorry.” Gavin opens his mouth to respond and Michael cuts him off. “I’m sorry I ruined your Valentine’s Day. I’m sorry for being such an asshole about it afterwards. I’m sorry you felt the need to hide from me. For a week!” Gavin blushes, embarrassed at that statement, breaking their eye contact. “I’m sorry it took me so long to see what you saw.” 

Michael turns up Gavin’s face to look at him. “Mostly I’m sorry that I thought you were straight this whole time.” 

They laugh. Then kiss. Then kiss again. When they come back up for air, Gavin looks to Michael’s phone sitting forgotten in between them. “Guess we should let Ray know his plan worked?”

Michael grins. “Fuck him, that smug bastard.”

~~

The sound of his text tone alerts Ray more than the vibrations. Hard to feel them with his controller shaking each time his sledge saw cuts through a crowd of zombies. When the round finishes he laughs loudly at the message, “I’m fucking Cupid.”

“Should I be jealous?” Ryan jokes, voice heard through the tiny headset speaker. 

“No,” Ray blushes when he laughs, “these assholes finally got together.” 

“Michael and Gavin? How do you know?”

“They sent me a picture of their gross PDA.”

Ryan chuckles in his ear as Ray replies “FINALLY!” and drops the phone back to the couch. The picture of Michael and Gavin kissing with a middle finger prominently in the forefront, Michael’s in all likelihood, eventually darkens from the phone’s screen saver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU AGAIN TO **EVERY SINGLE PERSON** who opened, reviewed, read, completed, kudos'd, commented, and/or subscribed to this silly little story of mine. 
> 
> I started this as a gift for a neglected mod, who was probably just as neglected by my slow-ass updating, but I finish it as a gift to this lovely new fandom of mine. 
> 
> I still have plans for a few things in this verse; Foreground R&R, pre-Gav Raychael (cause you know they fooled around before), and Mavin smut (OBVS); but who knows what will inspire that. For now, be on the look out for my all-time favorite part of a new fandom- DA PORNZ! I'm working on a little goodie with Raychael now but I ship OT6 and all pairings within, so if you have a request/prompt, _bring it on down!_

**Author's Note:**

> AN2: I have taken many liberties with how GTA V (and video games in general) works during this story. I know there's no local multiplayer. Oh well, artistic license or something like that. :P
> 
> AN3: My beta tells me the story reads as if there's some unrequited Michael/Ray in a few parts. I'll admit I watched their [RT Recap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hKWXIah40s) and [Bro Date](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBLi7x-p6vY) as research. Sorrynotsorry that I can't help pairing up all the Lads. :D


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